Carrying bag of plastic material



A. SCHWARZKOPF CARRYING BAG OF PLASTIC MATERIAL Jan. 20, 1970 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Oct. 31 1966 W 2 o Tm fw 2 6 4 l & m F. F U M 3 L 7 wffl 7 1 4 70 0 w 7 z I a i I 1 a Jan. 20, 1970 A. scHwARzKoPF 3,490,632

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CARRYING BAG OF PLASTIC MATERIAL Original Filed 001:. 31,. 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent 3,490,682 CARRYING BAG OF PLASTIC MATERIAL August Schwarzkopf, Lengerich, Westphalia, Germany,

assignor to Windmoller & Holscher, Lengerich, Westphalia, Germany Original application Oct. 31, 1966, Ser. No. 590,860.

Divided and this application July 24, 1967, Ser.

Int. Cl. B65d 33/10; A45c 3/04 US. Cl. 229-54 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A carrying bag having a pair of U-shaped carrying handles attached to the upper edges thereof. Each of the handles is made from a single rectangular strip of material with the central portion of one of the handles being folded outwardly while the central portion of the other handle is folded inwardly toward the center of the carrying bag. The central portion of the handle which is folded inwardly toward the center of the bag is folded over the central portion of the other handle so as to form a grip portion for the bag.

This application is a division of my copending application Ser. No. 590,860, filed Oct. 31, 1966.

Carrying bags are known which have folded, U-shaped carrying handles that are attached to the top edges of the bag. In such bags it is known to fold the U-shaped central portions of both U-shaped handles inwardly toward each other, toward the bag (US. patent specification No. 2,603,408) or towards the outside, away from each other, away from the bag (Germ-an patent specification No. 811,601). In these known bags, which are made of paper and have adhered handles of paper, the limbs of the U- shaped handles are secured to the outside of the bag. A carrying bag having approximately V-shaped carrying handles has also been disclosed. This bag and its handles consist of polyethylene plastics material and the handles are welded to the outside or to the inside of the bag walls. In both handles, the folded portion Was inwardly directed, as with the first-mentioned, known carrying bag, so that the two grip portions abut when the bag is flattened (German utility model No. 1,841,377).

These carrying handles, which are symmetrical with respect to the center plane and are infolded or outfolded in their central portion, have the disadvantage that they can individually fall to different sides and block when they are superimposed. These disadvantages are particularly inherent in such bags of unstable plastics material and have an adverse effect on the manipulation of the bags during the stacking and shipment thereof and when the bags are removed being prepared for use. Besides, the bag tends to open easily, which fact opposes its simple manipulation during said operations. The known handles have also the disadvantage that when the bag is filled and the two handle portions are flattened, their grip portions fold one against the other or apart from each other. This is inconvenient in either case and causes both grip portions to lie one beside the other in the hand so that they require more space than is afforded by the folded hand. Hence, the grips are upset and do not lie conveniently in the hand.

In order to avoid these disadvantages and to provide a carrying bag of plastics material having welded, U- shaped handles, which do not fall apart so that the bag does not tend to open spontaneously, and whose grip portions do not abut, nor block in a stack, and do not lie one beside the other in the hand, the inventor suggests to provide U-s'h-aped carrying handles, which may be welded 3,490,582 Patented Jan. 20, 1970 to the outside or inside surfaces of the bag, and which are non-symmetrical with respect to the center plane of the bag. This is accomplished in that the grip portion of one handle is outfolded and the grip portion of the other handle is infolded. As a result, both folded grip portions extend toward one and the same side of the bag and the handles can be fitted one into the other. The outfolded grip portion lies behind the infolded grip portion. Even when the two U-shaped handles are welded to the outside of the bag, they contact each other at least throughout their free length and do not block, nor detach from each other, so that they cannot fall apart toward two sides and the bag does not open spontaneously. The grips are gripped by the hand simultaneously -while being superimposed so that they do not lie one beside the other nor are upset in the hand. An important advantage of the novel design resides in that the interengagement of the two handles of plastics material results in a desirable stiffening of the resulting, unitary grip assembly.

If the handles are welded to the inside surfaces of the bag, the bags as manufactured have grips which are interfitted so that there is no need for a separate operation to interfit the grips before the packaging of the bags.

The carrying handle strips may be made in a manner known per se from one or two plies of wide film (width of film equals length of strip) or from one or two plies of narrow film (width of film equals width of strip). The first material involves supply rolls which can be made and stored more easily owing to their width and which do not require a frequent replacement because they represent a large supply. In the second case, the longitudinal direcnon of the strip is the direction of extrusion, in which the material has the highest strength, and additional reinforcements such as ribs or filamentary inserts can be formed or caused to run in.

In the case of wide film, the feeding direction is the direction in which the U-shaped strips are inserted and it is suflicient to adapt the feeding rate to the required width of the strip. Instead of a cutting operating to make the handle strips, the same may be torn from a preperforated supply web.

To prevent a welding together of pairs of handles inserted into the interior of the tubing, the confronting surfaces may be suitably pretreated or prepared. Compound material may be used, which comprises a non-weldable layer bonded to a weldable layer and which is arranged so that the non-weldable layers face each other. Finally, a non-weldable, lost interlayer may be used. The two or three layers may be unwound from two or three separate supply rolls or from a preformed single supply roll, which contains a multi-ply web.

The invention will now be explained in detail with ref erence to illustrative embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 shows the right-hand half of a carrying bag according to the invention having a side seam and internally welded carrying handles,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line IIII of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 shows the left-hand half of a carrying bag according to the invention having a side seam and externally welded carrying handles,

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line IV-IV in FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 the right-hand half of a carrying bag according to-the invention having a bottom seam and internally welded carrying handles,

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line VI-VI of FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 the left-hand half of a carrying bag according to the invention having a bottom seam and externally welded carrying handles,

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on line VIIIVIII in FIG. 7,

FIG. 9 a top plan view showing a tubing in a phase of the manufacture of carrying bags having a bottom seam and externally welded carrying handles,

FIG. 10 a side elevation associated with FIG. 9,

FIG. 11 a top plan view showing a half-tubing in a phase of manufacture of carrying bags having a side seam and externally welded carrying handles,

FIG. 11a a top plan view showing another embodiment of a half-tubing,

FIG. 12 a side elevation associated with FIG. 11,

FIG. 13 a top plan view showing a tubing in a phase of the manufacture of carrying bags having a bottom seam and internally welded carrying handles,

FIG. 14 a side elevation associated with FIG. 13,

FIG. 15 a top plan view showing a half-tubing in a phase of the manufacture of carrying bags having a side seam and internally welded carrying handles,

FIG. 15a a top plan view showing another embodiment of a half-tubing and FIG. 16 a side elevation associated with FIG. 15,

FIGS. 17 to 19 show in top plan views three phases of the shaping of a carrying handle blank into a U-shaped carrying handle as taught by the invention.

FIGS. 1 to 4 show carrying bags according to the invention having welded side seams 1 and 2. In these embodiments, the carrying bags may have a bottom gusset 3. Alternatively, this gusset may be eliminated and the bottom be formed in known manner only by a bottom fold. The carrying bag having side seams may have a backfolded filling rim 4 or 5 or may have only a single-ply filling rim.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, U-shaped carrying handles 6 and 7 are secured to the inside surfaces of the respective bag walls and to any infolded rim 4 thereof by a seam weld 8, which joins also the backfolded rim to the bag wall.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, U-shaped carrying handles 9 and 10 are welded to the outside surfaces of respective bag walls. The seam weld 11 is shown, e.g., in the shape of an oval ring and may suitably include also any backfolded rim to fix the same.

The grip or central portions 12 and 13 of both U-shaped handles 6, 7 or 9, 10 extends toward the same side in space so that the carrying handles are nonsymmetrical with respect to the center plane of the bag. This plane is defined by the seam welds 1 and 2. The central portion 12 extends inwardly toward the center plane of the bag and the grip portion 13 is folded outwardly, away from the center plane of the bag, and downwardly. This enables an interengagement of the grip portions of the two carrying handles in the manner shown so that the outfolded grip portion 13 lies behind the infolded grip portion 12 and both U-shaped handles when welded to the outside, as handles 9 and 10, contact each other at least throughout their free length when the bag is closed. The drawing shows the bag in a slightly open condition. Handles welded to the inside, such as handles 6 and 7, contact each other throughout their length when the bag is closed. This feature results in a desirable stiffening of the unitary grip, which can be conveniently seized. The bags can be stacked properly and a certain closing effect is obtained because the grips do not tend to fall apart.

As regards the carrying handles and their attachment to the outside or inside surfaces of the bag, the carrying bags shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 do not differ from the carrying bags shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. The bags according to FIGS. 5 to 8 differ from those of FIGS. 1 to 4 only in that they have a bottom seam weld 14. Such a bar having a bottom seam may have side gussets 15, 16, or may have no such gussets so that a known, flat bag is obtained. In the bag shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the U-shaped handles 17, 18 are welded to the inside. In the bag of FIGS. 7 and 8 the U-shaped handles 19, 20 are welded to the outside.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show the manufacture of a bag having a bottom seam and externally welded carrying handled with longitudinal conveyance from an extruded, seamless tubing 21 of plastics material, which is intermittently moved in the direction of the arrow 22. The tubing is provided with transverse perforation lines 23, which are spaced apart by the desired bag length. Along these lines, the head portion of the finish bag is then torn from the bottom portion of a succeeding bag, which is to be provided with the bottom seam weld. The U-shaped carrying handles 19 and 20 have been Welded to both sides of the tubing, e.g., by means of the welding punches 24 and 26. A mandrel 26 is disposed within the tubing to prevent an inadmissible welding together of the tubing plies. A handle blank 27 is shown in dotted lines and is moved by a preferred folding process according to the invention from the position shown in the drawing to assume directly a U shape and a welding position. During this operation, the points which are marked with the crosses 28 and 29 are pushed to the respective positions 28 and 29 whereas the simultaneous or subsequent pivotal movement of the strip end portions causes the central portion of the strip to assume its desired final position while forming the two 45 folds 3t), 31. In this operation, the central portion of the strip is arched in such a manner that the central portion of one handle 19 is folded to extend toward the tubing and the central portion of the other handle 20 is folded to extend away from the tubing.

FIGS. 17 to 19 show on an enlarged scale three phases of the formation of the handle as taught by the invention. The dash-dot lines 32, 33 indicate the contour of the engaging tool, the crosses represent again the intermediate engaging points 28, 29, and the points 34 represent needles of the tools. The tools 32 and 33 are approached to each other and rotated so that the extended handle blank shown in FIG. 17 is formed into a U shape shown in FIG. 19. In the showing of FIGS. 17 to 19 it is assumed that the approaching and rotational movements of the tools are carried out at the same time. Alternatively, the tools may be approached to each other in a first step, wherein the central portion of the strip is arched to one side or the other, whereafter each tool is rotated through about its own axis so that the central portion of the strip is folded to the other side. The side to which the central portion of the strip is arched will be determined only by a slight curvature or a corresponding support in the initial condition.

The dotted lines 15 and 16 in FIG. 9 indicate that side gussets may be formed, which are not provided in FIG. 10. When the tubing has side gussets, the mandrel 26 comprises two layers so that it can extend into the tubing above and below the side gusset. FIGS. 9 and 10 show the tubing at a standstill immediately after the welding of the U-shaped handles. When a complete carrying bag has been torn from the perforation line 23, the handles are interengaged by being fitted one into the other, as is shown in FIG. 8.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show the corresponding process in the manufacture of bags having a side seam and externally welded carrying handles. The half-tubing 36 is open at its left-hand edge 35 and is intermittently fed in the direction of the arrow 38 over a stationary mandrel 37. The limbs 39 and 40 of the U-shaped handles to be formed are pivotally moved to their welding position above and below the tubing from the initial position, shown by way of example in dotted lines, of the extended handle strip, and are welded, e.g., by means of the welding jaws 41-44, while the mandrel 37 prevents a non-admissible welding together of the tubing plies. The half-tubing 36 has, e.g., a bottom gusset 3. The half-tubing may be formed by slotting an extruded, seamless tubing along the edge 35, or from a fiat web, which is folded about a tube-forming mandrel. FIG. 11a shows such a half-tubing having a bottom gusset 3 and infolded edge portions 5, which are preferably obtained in that a seamless tubing, which has gussets on both sides, is severed along the inner fold line 45 of one side gusset.

In bags having a side gusset and externally welded handles, the latter are also separately made for each side and must be subsequently fitted one into the other for interengagement. FIGS. 13 and 14 correspond to FIGS. 9 and with the difference that the carrying handles are welded to the inside. For this purpose, the perforation line 46 has two slits 47 and 48 respectively disposed adjacent to the two limbs of the carrying handles. For reasons of manufacturing technology, these slits extend through both plies of the tubing. The incisions in one tubing ply are utilized to enable an insertion of the four limbs of a previously combined pair of handles between the tubing plies and into welding position. For this reason, the carrying handles had to be given their U shape before they were inserted. Hence, the U-shaped handles must be displaced after they have been manufactured. The double strip blank 49 shown in dotted lines is in a position behind that shown in FIG. 9 while the U shape is imparted to it. A mandrel 50 does not extend into the welding region and ensures the spreading of the tubing plies for the insertion. This will be described more in detail hereinafter. Welding is effected, e.g., by the welding jaws 51. A nonpermissible welding together of the carrying handle strips is prevented by a separate, non-weldable ply, or a nonweldable layer adhering to the inside surfaces of the carrying handle strips, or a non-weldable surface.

The manufacturing operation illustrated in FIGS. and 16 differs from that shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 only in that the U-shaped handles are welded to the inside. As the two tubing plies may be held spaced at the open side 35 by simple means in the region in which the strip end portions are pivotally moved to the U shape according to the process which has been described, the limbs of the pair of handles may enter between the plies and assume their welding position during the pivotal movement so that a separate displacement of the U-shaped pair of handles is not required, contrary to the manufacture of bags having a bottom seam. As a result, the strip blank 52 shown in dotted lines is closely adjacent to the tubing. Welding is then elfected by means of welding punches 53 to 56 acting from the outside. A non-permissible welding together of the carrying handle strips is prevented by a parting agent or parting layer between the strips.

Internally welded carrying handles have the special advantage that the two carrying handles are jointly folded to the U shape in a single device and are already interengaged so that a separate operation for this purpose is not required.

I claim:

1. A carrying bag having first and second side walls and further having means interconnecting the bottom edge and the opposed side edges of the first side wall to the bottom edge and side edges of the second side wall, respectively, the upper edges of said first and second side walls defining an opening therebetween for access into said bag, and handle means connected to said side walls near the upper edges thereof for grasping and carrying said bag, the improvements wherein said handle means comprises:

a first carrying handle of thin flexible plastic material fixedly connected to said first side wall adjacent the upper edge thereof, said first carrying handle being substantially U-shaped and having a central portion and a pair of leg portions, one end of said leg portions being integrally connected to opposite ends of said central portion with the other end of said leg portions being fixedly connected to said first side wall, said central portion being folded inwardly and downwardly toward said second side wall;

a second carrying handle of thin flexible plastic material fixedly connected to said second side wall adjacent the upper edge thereof, said second carrying handle being substantially U-shaped and having a central portion and a pair of leg portions, one end of said leg portions being integrally connected to opposite ends of said central portion with the other end of said leg portions being fixedly connected to said second side Wall, said central portion being folded outwardly and downwardly away from said first and second side walls whereby the folded central portions of said first and second handles both extend in the same direction;

the central portion of said second carrying handle being interengageable with and fittable within the central portion of said first carrying handle for locking said handles together and for forming a grip portion for the bag.

2. A carrying bag according to claim 1, wherein said first and second handles are each formed from a straight rectangular strip of thin flexible plastic material, the ends of said strip forming the leg portions with the middle of said strip forming the central portion of said handles.

3. A carrying bag according to claim 2, wherein said end portions are folded relative to said middle portion so as to form said U-shaped handle, said end portions being folded so as to form a fold-line positioned approximately at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the longitudinal axes of said leg portions and said central portion.

4. A carrying bag according to claim 3, wherein said rectangular strip has first and second planar sides thereon, said handle being folded such that the first side on said leg portions confronts the first side on said central portion, the second side on said leg portions and said central portion facing in opposite directions.

5. A carrying bag according to claim 4, wherein the central portion of the first carrying handle is folded inwardly toward said second handle so as to be positioned between the leg portions of said first and second handles, respectively, and the central portion of said second handle is folded outwardly so as to be positioned on the side of the second handle leg portions opposite the central portion of said first handle.

6. A carrying bag according to claim 1, wherein at least portions of said first and second side walls are constructed of plastic material, and wherein the other ends of said leg portions of said first and second carrying handles are Welded to said portions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,955,740 10/1960 Finke 22954 3,207,418 9/1965 Kramming 22954 DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 1.7; 22952 

